Gay Pride in Istanbul: what next?

A group of colourfully-dressed people gathers in an Istanbul public square to form a Gay Pride march down a busy public street.

Year after year, the procession grows, from 5,000, to 10,000, and eventually as many as 100,000.  The international community commends Turkey’s approach to LGBT issues.

In 2015, however, the Istanbul Gay Pride march is banned.  Thousands of people arrive to find Istiklal blocked by riot police.  The police disperse marchers using tear gas and water cannon, although a few are later allowed to walk down Istiklal.

I attended in 2015 to enjoy what had been in previous years been a carnival atmosphere.  Here are a few of my photos.  The first (above) shows the larger part of the march, which I left shortly after, and before it was dispersed by police.

I’ve written before about why the UK cares about gender and sexuality issues, including my blog of 24 June 2015, “Gay Pride in Istanbul: great stuff” which turned out to be a bit premature.

What do the events of 2015 tell us about Turkey and about the prospect for any similar event in 2016?

The first issue is how Turkey wishes to deal with issue of gender, sexuality and sexual orientation.  This is for Turkish people to decide.  The impact of such policies is far-ranging.  As I wrote last year: “If you exclude part of your community from social, political or economic activities based on gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation you are reducing the amount of talent you can draw on.  That can harm your political, social and economic development – quite apart from the ethical and moral arguments.”

A second issue is predictability.  As I wrote in my blog of last November “Creating an environment for foreign investment: what “independence” means”, an important part of attracting inward investment and international business is by showing that a country has transparent and clear operating rules.  Business craves predictability and transparency, and fears uncertainty.

When it comes to Gay Pride marches, clarity of decision-making helps everyone to plan whether to attend, or whether to stay at home.  If a decision is taken to ban such a march, it is really helpful to make sure everyone knows well in advance.  And if you are able, as in previous years, to let the march go ahead undisturbed, so much the better.

Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter @leighturnerFCO